“We cook together from the garden, so they learn a bit about seasonality and that eating healthy can be fun.”

– Michelle Bates-Benetua, Lettuce Link’s Program Manager

Schools

Local families support good schools

In lower income areas where diversity is high and needs are important, having good schools is crucial for our kids. South Park is fortunate to have one of the best international schools in the region.

To contact organizations listed on this site, see the Resource section

SEATTLE LANDMARK:
Concord Elementary School (1914), South Park

Courtesy Seattle Public Schools

Address: 723 South Concord Street, Seattle. Concord School is the third public elementary school for South Park since 1892. Once a community of Italian and Japanese farmers, South Park is hemmed in by freeways and industry, but Concord School still educates the community’s children.

Desirae Cuningham, a local South Park parent likes that her children are able to mingle with others of different races and ethnicities in the neighborhood and at school. “It’s teaching my kids to respect and not to judge others,” she says. “It keeps you curious and interested in people who might be different from you.”

CONCORD SCHOOL TEAMS UP WITH LETTUCE LINK

Lettuce Link: Harvesting Volunteers to Benefit Food Banks and Children

by Melanthia M. Peterman, Seattle Child

Student Devin Jackson, 8, washes up before participating in a nutrition class at Marra Farm

Hovering around a picnic table at Marra Farm in south Seattle, third-graders from Concord Elementary School chatter nonstop as they smear soy butter over celery and place raisins in wonky lines atop the spread.

The well-known snack of “ants on a log” is a childhood favorite, and today it serves as a teaching tool for a nutrition lesson provided by Lettuce Link, a local program that also provides organic produce to food banks in the Seattle area…

…Volunteers also help facilitate Lettuce Link’s nutrition and gardening education program for children in the South Park community. They work with about 150 children from Concord Elementary and other nearby schools. Bates-Benetua says students typically care for their own small plot for the season, and learn about soil, worms and nutrition.